On September 10, 2025, American right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at one of his speaking events in Orem, Utah. 

You know what else happened that day? The Athletics walked off the Boston Red Sox. University of Missouri quarterback Beau Pribula was named to the Great 8 list following his performance against Kansas. Countless YouTube videos were watched, books read, and homework done. 

What’s wrong with this list? A man whose only crime was being divisive had his life cut short, and America continued as usual.

Now, let me get one thing straight. I did not like Charlie Kirk. In fact, I had as close to zero respect for that man as one could have. His combative nature and all his- to me – inane and borderline harmful takes had led me to roll my eyes every time I saw him on social media. His full anti-abortion stance, which led to him saying that if his daughter were assaulted, he would make her have the baby, is something I found despicable. 

And yet, I am not cheering. I am not smugly scrolling Instagram, seeing all the people upset at this, and smiling. I am conflicted—daresay, sad—about this. Why? As a journalist, I am taught that not much else comes above the First Amendment in this field. We have the freedom in this country to say what we feel, and, aside from threats, we can go unpunished. 

This is not to say I like seeing what some people choose to do with their freedom. But whether you want to protest in support of Palestine or Israel; No Kings Day or for Kings Day — you could walk outside saying something as unfounded as repealing the Third Amendment, and you would be perfectly fine. By being reactive to this incident and not proactive for the next one, we are reinforcing the idea that by utilizing your First Amendment right, you are accepting inherent danger, which should absolutely not be the case. 

Another issue is that his children are now growing up without a father. Straight up. They did not choose to be born into that life, and now they have lost a parent. 

Another reason to condemn this tragedy is this: 356. As of Sept. 10, that is how many mass shootings have taken place in the U.S. this year alone. America is averaging 1.41 shootings a day. Four hundred people have had their lives cut short because of someone else’s pure evil—and that’s just the mass killings. That does not take into account the single shootings or the homicides from guns, either. 

I remember seeing a shirt after Breanna Taylor was killed by police that said, “How perfect does a Black woman have to be to mourn her?” 

I would like to put forward a new one: How famous does a person have to be to enact change? When literal children have had their lives taken from them, is it not enough? One single shooting would shut down another country, but in the U.S., some people don’t even hear about it. 

The day after I’m writing this will be September 11, the anniversary of the terrible tragedy that befell New York City all those years ago. Yet, from 2021 to the present, more people have died in shootings than in that tragedy. It’s “Never forget” for those people, but when a church has its windows shattered by the cold, piercing rounds from a firearm, it’s “thought’s and prayers” and then life goes on? 

In a country where everyday life is becoming more and more politically polarizing, you’d think all sides could agree on one thing: people dying is bad.

And yet no meaningful legislation has been passed since 1968 to do anything about it. If Charlie Kirk’s death makes conservatives more willing to pass legislation that helps solve America’s gun problem, then so be it. But it should not take someone outspoken on your side dying to do so. 

If I may quote The Onion, of all places: “‘‘No Way to Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens.” In short, if you take one thing away from this, please do not blame sides; it was not the left that did this, it was one person. Blame the people who allowed it to happen by not passing legislation.